1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to poultry processing equipment and methods, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for severing the feet and shanks of a poultry carcass from the drumsticks at the hocks.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
It is known to provide an apparatus for automatically removing the leg shanks from the drumsticks of poultry carcasses during processing. However, such methods have proven to be unsatisfactory because of the unreliability of severing the leg shanks from the drumsticks at precisely the right location.
Unless the hock joint is severed at the right location, chips of bone from the leg shanks may remain on the heads of the drumsticks or, conversely, the heads of the drumsticks may be partially severed. In either of these cases, the quality of the carcass becomes inferior under conventional grading systems and sales of the carcasses are significantly affected.
A conventional method of severing poultry carcass legs at the hocks is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,281,890, to Bonuchi et al., and includes, among other features, the use of a pair of partially overlapping wheels disposed on opposite sides of a conveyance path for applying a combination cutting and wedging action to the hocks therearound, inwardly thereof, laterally of their direction of advancement and substantially at the centers of the hocks while each carcass is advanced between the wheels in a suspended, generally vertical upside-down orientation. A drive means is provided on the device for rotating the wheels about vertical axes, and each wheel includes arcuate recesses so that, upon rotation of the wheels, the recesses of each wheel are successively closed by the other wheel.
The device illustrated in the noted Bonuchi et al. patent also includes a knife blade that is supported adjacent to the wheels and extends horizontally across the conveyance path. The knife severs the connective tissue spanning the hocks after the wheels have both severed the skin coverings of the hocks and forced the heads of the drumsticks out of the sockets in the shanks.
Although the method and device shown in the mentioned Bonuchi et al. patent provide many benefits over other conventional automated hock cutting systems, it would be desirable to further improve the reliability and ease of maintenance of a hock cutting method and apparatus relative to such conventional systems.
For example, the use of a hock cutter apparatus that must be driven for rotation or any other motion in order to carry out separation and/or severing of the drumsticks from the shanks of a carcass represents a greater potential for breakdown than a device requiring no such moving parts. Specifically, the positioning of rotating wheels or moving blades in a hock cutting system within a poultry processing line exposes any associated support bearings and driving mechanisms to an extremely adverse environment, wherein feathers and other abrasive matter are able to collect in the bearings and ruin them. As a result, such mechanisms require periodic maintenance and are less reliable than desired.
The knife employed in the conventional system is also exposed to the same environment as the rest of hock cutting components, and requires occasional maintenance to remain sharp enough to reliably sever the connective tissue of the hocks. If the blade is allowed to become too dull, there is a tendency for carcasses moving past the knife to slide along the blade and be deflected laterally without the connective tissue being severed.